Incorporating metal nanoparticles into inverse opals has attracted significant attention in the literature since the high surface area and photonic properties of inverse opals coupled with the plasmonic properties of metal nanoparticles greatly expands the possible applications of these materials as catalysts, sensors, photonic structures, and in Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy. Using a new three-phase co-assembly method, we are able to create highly ordered inverse opal films with homogeneously distributed and accessible gold nanoparticles embedded within the walls of the structure. This highly-ordered, large-scale porous structure, combined with a uniform functional composition, cannot be fabricated by typical inverse opal synthetic methods. We show that the synthesized films possess unique optical properties, combining an angle-dependent Bragg peak of typical inverse opals with the angle-independent absorption peak of gold nanoparticles. These optical properties are tuned by changing the concentration of nanoparticles added to the colloidal solution before assembly or by the selective growth of embedded nanoparticles within the prepared porous thin film. We also demonstrate that due to the functional tunability of our structures and the accessibility of its pores and nanoparticles, the wetting and subsequently the optical properties of these films can be spatially patterned.

Incorporation of nanoparticles into tunable, highly-ordered, porous silica films

249th National Meeting (2015)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.